Anatomy of an ad shoot

Hey there everyone.

Been a while since my last report, but finally have some free time and thought you might enjoy this shoot break down from  a few months ago.

Earlier this year I got a call from a trucking company to shoot their promotional calendar. Each year they do a large calendar with an image of their truck somewhere in the NW, since that is there main service area. After a few phone calls with them and looking at their past calendars, I felt I had a good idea of what they were looking for and offered up a few ideas for locations.

After getting a number for their budget, I started brainstorming if it was even doable, and how. Like most smaller companies now a days, they didn't have much to spend, so I had to cut out location scouting and really couldn't have a crew, so shooting the truck on location was out of the question. Permit costs, traffic control, hotels, grip truck, lighting ect all were not possible with their budget. Not a huge problem, just makes it tricky and limits what your able to do. So, given what we had to work with,  shooting the background and striping the truck in later seemed like the best way to go. That way I could do it most all by myself and cut a lot out of the overall cost. They are a great company and the client was super cool to work with so I wasn't worried about the budget. I just needed to work within it as best as possible and hopefully give them a great shot to use for there calendar.

The first thing to think about when looking into a location for the shoot was the size of the truck. What ever background we choose needed a big section of open road and lots of room to get back far with the camera. Having shot hundreds of bike and car ads over the last 20 years, I had a ton of location files to pull from, but very few would work because of the size of the vehicle.

Well, since there was no budget for scouting, picking a location got a little tricky. Just looking at location files and web pics gives you an idea of what the overall look of the location may be, but a semi trick and trailer take up a lot of room and it's really hard to tell if it will work without being there in person. Since we were going to be stripping the truck in later we didn't have to worry about things like bridge weight limits, low overpasses, vehicle length limits, permit issues ect so that part was good.

After doing some research and offering up a few suggestions, a Mt scene was decided on for the background. They were very open to about anywhere I would like to go, and for the most part left it up to me to pick a good spot. Well, around 10 years ago, I had worked on a shoot in the North Cascades and knew of a great shot up the Mt Baker HWY with a view from Picture Lake with  Mt Shuksan in the background. I was shooting ads for Yamaha up there and couldn't remember if a semi would fit on the road? So I started looking online for shots of the lake and the Mt. The problem was, most all the pics out there don't show the road to the left of the lake. Even the Washington film Commission didn't have a shot that showed if there was a road there or not. But, after much looking I ran across a shot online that showed that yes, you could see the road, and it looked like a big enough area for a semi truck.

Once I had seen this I felt the area could work, but was still a little skeptical since there is nothing in the shot to show scale. Without a budget to go up and tech scout it I was a little nervous, but the client lived up close to the area and said he would go check it out. Before he left, I gave him a list of things to check for while he was there.
#1, Compass reading telling me which way the camera would be pointing.
#2, General distance from where the camera would be to the open section of the road.
#3, Record what focal length lens his pics were shot with.
#4, Put his vehicle in the shot so I could get an idea of scale and how big the opening was on the road.
#5, Turn and shoot a wide angle shot of what was behind the camera. That way I could get an idea if there were high Mt's behind, thus telling me if the sun would be going down early and the light leaving the lake.
Since we had already decided to shoot the truck separately and strip it in later, we didn't have to worry about checking out the road for weight, height and length limits.
A week or so later, after the client got back from checking it out, we talked and went over his pics and info. Everything looked and sounded good so I was given the green light and I started making plans for the shoot.

Since Mt Shuksan is about an 8 hr drive from my home in West Linn, weather was my biggest concern. Mt weather is always a big worry on photo shoots, especially when its a scenic shot and pretty much requires a good day with a clear view. I could always strip in a nice sky, I just need to make sure I could see the Mt, and at that high of elevation, you just never know!
So after closely watching the forecast and satellite images for a few days, I woke early one Sat morning, double checked the forecast, packed my gear and headed north.

I will freely admit that I got pretty lucky here. There drive up took WAY longer than expected and I started getting worried I may not make it before the light left the road and the lake, leaving me with a super contrasty scene. That can be overcome with multi exposures, but I wanted to get a good variety of looks, and direct late light on the water and road was something I for sure did not want to miss.

As it turned out, I arrived just in the nick of time. I quickly parked my Jeep, grabbed my gear and ran as fast as I could down to the the edge of the lake. I got set as quickly as possible and fired off a quick bracket, and then just that quickly, the shadow from the Mt behind me came over the road and I lost the direct light. I did get the shot, and it was with the latest light of the day, so I guess I at least saved myself some editing time!

Now the big rush was over, I had lots of time to look around for other shots. The photo was still doable, I just needed to do a wide bracket and layer them together.
Obviously, this next image is way to contrasty in one exposure. The road and area where the truck would be is way to dark. So, shooting off a tripod to keep the camera perfectly still, I shot a wide bracket of exposures to get both the detail in the bright sky and detail in the dark shadows.

Now, having these different exposures, I would be able to layer them together in photoshop to show a scene that would work great for the foreground and the background.

My plan had been to shoot the late light till into the evening then stay the night and shoot sunrise the next morning before heading back home. So after a few hr I ran out of light and headed down the hill for some dinner in Glacier. After some great pizza and live music, I headed back up the Mt and slept in my Jeep in the parking lot by the lake.

I got up an hr or so before sunrise and shot some star trails and fun night exposures for my stock files.

This shot above was in almost total darkness, and with the naked eye, it looked totally clear out with no clouds in site. When the first 30 sec exposure came up on the back of the camera I was really surprised to see all this color. Ever since I had woke up I was thinking it would be a clear and boring sunrise, but this gave me hope. And as luck would have it, it just got better and better. More and more clouds came up from the backside of the Mt just as the sun was coming up. I don't think if I ordered a sunrise it could have been any more amazing than the one I was getting. A few 5 stop brackets from 2 different locations, and I new I had a shot my client would be really happy with.

 

And here is the final sample blended image with nice soft morning light on the road for the truck.

                                     

Similar to what I had the client do weeks before, I took some notes before I left to make sure I had all the info needed. That way when it came time to shoot the truck, everything would look just right and I could make the strip look seemless.

#1, Color card the changing light while I shot so I had something to go off of when color matching the truck shot later.
#2, Camera and road hight. This was somewhat easy as I was pretty much level with the road so I just needed a camera hight. If there was much of a hight difference I would need to adjust for that later when shooting the truck. If I shot to high or to low then the final striped shot would not look real.
#3, Lens focal length.
#4, Compas reading
#5, Camera info. That info is embeded in the image, but I always write it down anyway. Just a little old school I guess.
#6, Distance to the road. This part was tricky as I couldn't just pace it off, what with the water and all. So  I made a guess as to the distance, but more importantly, I parked my Jeep on the road where I felt the truck would go. Then I shot an image from each of the locations and each focal length I had used. That way I would have something good to use as a scale when I set up the semi later.

Next up, the semi.

Well, first thing is finding an area thats REALLY big...... and flat..........and open!
I had a few ideas from past shoots over the years around the Portland area, and set out one day to check them out. A few I felt could almost work, but the areas were just not quite big enough, or didn't have open areas facing the light to make it work correctly. Another area would have worked great for the light, but there were to many things around to worry about reflections in the side of the truck. So after a few calls and some more brainstorming, I came up with a great spot, and it was even free. They had a huge parking area that was very seldom used, it was pretty level, and I could angle the truck perfect to match the light I needed for the direct light strip. The other two were not near as critical since the light was so soft, but the direct light shot needed to be really close to make it work right.

So after running out one day to tech scout it (always a good idea when shooting something so large) we set it up for the next day when the weather was looking good.
I arrived plenty early this time and set up the camera and used traffic cones to section off  the angle and area where truck would be. This was a huge benefit since the driver was over an hr late. But since I had got there early and had all my info from the background shoot, we were able to pull him right into place and start shooting within minutes.

When I started shooting, I slowly worked my way from a profile view to the front of the truck, shooting about every 10 feet or so as I went. This way I would be able to match up the exact angle I would need for the road later. This is really important because if the angle of the truck was off just a little, it would look like it was not sitting correctly on the road. Always better to have to many options than not enough.

After the sun went down and I felt we had both direct and soft light from the parking lot, we moved out to the access road to shoot another setup. While the light here was great, I couldn't get back as far without getting the grass coming up into the tires. So I went as far as I could, knowing this was just a bonus set up.

Now I had everything I needed.
A good variety of backgrounds and trucks to strip. Each with the correct lighting, distance, focal length and angles.
After the client picked their favorite background, the rest was somewhat simple. The multi exposures were layered together and the truck was lined out and color corrected. Then we just layered it into the shot and added a reflection.

After the final file was sent to the client, the designer laid out the calendar and it went to press.
Just got mine in the mail the other day and now have it hanging on the wall in my office. I am really happy the way it turned out.

How to get there.

The Mt Baker HWY and Mt Shuksan are located about 2 hr east of Bellingham Wa.
The upper parts of the HWY and the road to artist point are some of the most scenic areas I have ever been to in the entire country. The views are amazing and truly must been seen for your self to really understand the beauty and wonder of the area. An absolute must do for anyone who loves the outdoors, photography, hiking and climbing.

A foggy day at Saddle Mt

Well, after many a failed attempt, I finally got out to hike the Saddle Mt trail near the Oregon Coast last weekend. Weather and free time always seemed to be an issue, but last weekend it all worked out.

While I did want to see the view offered from the summit, I was just as interested in shooting the forest, flowers and trails as well. So a simple clear and sunny day was not what I had in mind.
So, keeping a close eye on the forecast, I headed out on a free Sunday when the forecast was for fog and clouds in the morning and sun breaks in the afternoon.

Ya, I know its the NW, so good luck with that right! But hay, it's kinda like the lottery. If you don't by a ticket, you got no chance to win.

So like usual, dark and early, I was loaded up with my rain gear and camera and headed towards the coast.

As luck would have it, the weather turned out about perfect. It never really rained on me the whole day, and while it never totally cleared off, I did get a few peaks of the coast through the quickly changing mist and fog.

The hike up is pretty steep, gaining about 1,700 feet elevation in under 3 miles, and really slippery in lots of places. If you have them, bring along some trek poles. I brought mine and am really glad I did! Just walking with a totally rebuilt right side is hard enough some days, but hiking up a steep and slippery trail with a load of camera gear would have been brutal for me without trek poles.

Once on the trail, the mist and
fog was really nice. It added such
a great mood to the forest.

At about the half way point, you come out of the trees and hit some really nice open hillsides, which i'm sure, on clear days would offer spectacular views. I was loving the look of the fog so I wasn't to worried about the view, and just kept shooting as I slowly moved my way up the Mt.

As you get higher up, there are some neat old sections of trail that they route you around, and they offered some great photo ops.

I liked having something man made up there to incorporate into the photograph.

It offered a little variety from the usual scenic shot.

As you near the top, the landscape offers a little of everything. There are lots of wild flowers, grassy hills, open views and big cliff drop offs. 

A tip for those that are afraid of highs, you may want to forget this hike. While not to bad, there are a few places that could freak someone out. 

When I reached the summit, the mist cleared off for a few minutes and I was able to see to the coast. And while i'm happy it did, i'm also glad it only lasted a few minutes, because when it cleared up, the area lost all it's mystery. I had really liked not knowing what was out there and felt the images would be more powerful if they held that mystery as well. So, I was really pleased when the mist rolled back in thicker than ever. It just gave the area this quality of drama that a clear sky never could. 

How to get there.....

Saddle Mt is located near Cannon Beach, about 1 1/2 hr west of Portland OR,

off of HWY 26. Take lots of water and trek polls if you have them. And unless your in great shape, pack light on the camera gear.

http://www.oregonstateparks.org/park_197.php

http://www.nwhiker.com/SaddleMtHikes.html

A long day in the Gifford Pinchot

Just before winter hit last year, I loaded up my bike and some cameras and headed to the Gifford Pinchot NF for what was sure to be the last high altitude Mt ride of the year.

Weather forecast showed a huge storm coming in later that night and the weather man had promised a few feet of snow in the Cascades. I had the day off and was itching to ride and shoot some pics, so by 5am I was all loaded up and on the road.

Having ridden and hiked in this area many times before, I was really looking forward to heading back. The Gifford Pinchot / Mt Adams area is such a beautiful place. The trails run across many hi ridges with amazing views, and there are also quite a few lakes for camping and fishing. In the middle of summer the misquotes are brutal, but come Fall, you would be hard pressed to find a more peaceful, scenic place anywhere in the country.

After about a 2 1/2 hr drive from my home in West Linn, I made it to my staging area for the day at

"Lower Lewis River Falls"

As soon as I arrived, I grabbed my camera and headed down to the falls, hoping to get there before the sun got to high and the hard contrast ruined the shot.

The falls can be shot from many angles, as the trail offers lots of different views, but this location was my favorite. The surrounding trees and bushes really help to frame the falls and add some nice depth to the image.

While I for sure wanted to get some ridding in, photography was my main focus for the day. So I continued to shoot around this area for a little while. But once the sun came up, I packed up a pretty full load of camera gear, along with a tripod into my backpack, hopped on my bike and headed for the hills.

The motorcycle trails in the Mt Adams area offer about as good of riding as anywhere in the country. The trails are steep and at times very difficult and dangerous, but you are reworded with scenery on a grand scale. Which of course, is why I chose to go there. Great ridding along with amazing scenery makes for a happy adventure photographer!

My plan for the day had me leaving the falls and heading East to a nice viewpoint near Sunrise Peak, and then even more East to Takhlakh Lake. I would be hitting a mixture of roads and trails and planned on getting to the Lake a little before sunset, so if the conditions were good, I could get in some nice late light shots of the Mt.

Well, right off I realized I had to change my plain a bit. I was ridding solo and had quite a load of gear, so hitting some of the expert trails was not going to be such a good idea, especially with a major storm coming in later that night. So, after hitting a few of the lower easier trails, I stuck mostly to the back country roads and zig zagged my way over to Sunrise.

Pulling off the twisty gravel road and onto trail #262, there is a really nice steep section of single track that travels about a mile up through the trees and pops you out on the side of a cliff, rewarding you with an amazing view of Mt Adams.

Once there, I shot this and a few other stock images, then figured I better get moving if I wanted to get down to Takhlakh Lake before sunset.

I arrived a little later than I had hoped, and as I pulled up to the lake, the sky and the Mt were already bathed in a beautiful late light. There were some really nice clouds and the light on the Mt was amazing.

But, I new the light would be gone quick, so I didn't waist any time. I grabbed my gear, headed to the edge of the lake and shot a few images right away that didn't need any setup. I didn't want to miss out on the nice light and figured something simple would be better than nothing.

Once I new I had a few good shots in the bag, it was time to set up the shot I had planned on all along, but was already a bit late for when I first arrived. I had all the gear I needed, but by getting there a little late, I new it would require a little photoshop trickery later in post. Not to be fooled by mother nature, I went straight to work.

First off, I needed to set it up quick and get a shot off while there was still a little light on the trees and nice light on the Mt. With the camera on a tripod, I shot the dark exposures first so I didn't loose the light, and bracketed in 1/3 stops with the shutter speed. It's important when creating a layered image this way that you use the shutter speed, not the aperture for the exposure bracket. Changing the aperture can cause the multiple images to not aline correctly.

As you can see here, since I arrived a bit late and the sun was gone from the foreground, there was a massive exposure difference between the foreground and the background. So, once I had the dark exposure for the sky and the Mt, I then shot a much lighter exposure for me, the bike and the campground. Again, I shot in 1/3 stop brackets so I could later pick the best exposures to blend together.

Once I felt I had all the exposures I needed, I packed up and headed back to the truck. It was a long cold ride but I was excited to get off the Mt before the storm hit. Plus, I couldn't wait to get back and create the final image from all the exposures I had made. I new it would take a little while at the computer, but I felt the final image could be really nice.

Back home, I opened up a few different light and dark exposures in

onOne software's "Perfect Layers". 

I was quickly able to blend the images together and come up with a final image that, while on location, my eyes could see, but just simply could not be captured in one exposure.

Then once I had the base image done, I went in and stylized it a bit with some saturation and contrast to give it a little punch, then added a simple border to frame it up nice. Overall, I was really happy with the day and the images I came back with were a nice addition to my stock files.

How to get there......

The "Lower Lewis River Falls" is located on HWY 90 (FS90) about 1 1/2 hr east of Woodland WA.

There is a nice campground there and its a great spot to stage for motorcycle trails (trail #80) as well as great Mt biking and hiking on the Lewis River Trail.

http://www.lewisriver.com/falls.html

Takhlakh Lake is about another hr or so further east off of NF23

http://www.recreation.gov/camping/Takhlakh_Lake_Campground/r/campgroundDetails.do?contractCode=NRSO&parkId=71647&topTabIndex=Search

The Sunrise Peak Trail #262 is another hr, and a bit farther north of the lake off NF23

http://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/giffordpinchot/recreation/ohv/recarea/?recid=31426&actid=93

Being in the Right Place at the Right Time

Cool places abound in the Mt Hood NF!

It seems everywhere you go, there are fun things to do and great places to explore.  And once you think you have found them all, you turn down a new road and "bam" there is something new to check out.

As a case in point, I give you the foot bridge in Rhododendron OR at the base of Mt Hood.

While out adventuring around one day taking the back road up to Trillium Lake, I drove through a little area of cabins just outside of town. As the road dead ended I saw what looked like a trail head so I hopped out to check it out. What I found was this cool foot bridge that lead from the cabins over the river and right into the center of town! As I crossed the bridge I couldn't believe I found my self standing practically right on HWY 26.  I had drove by this bridge well over 100 times over the years and had no idea it was there.

Well, the light was really bad but I went ahead and shot a few pics anyway. While the bridge was very interesting and unique, no matter what angle I shot from or what lens I used, the light  and the conditions were just to poor.

So after I worked it as much as I could, I gave up, telling myself I would need to come back when the conditions were better.

A few months later I had a day free and had dedicated it to shooting some new stock images. As the shoot day came closer, the weather conditions were looking prime for some great fresh snow shots and as I started to lay out a plan for where to shoot, I remembered that bridge.
Perfect I thought. Easy safe drive to the base of the Mt, and with Green River Canyon and "The Old Salmon River Trail"close by, I would have 2 locations to shoot that would offer totally different looks.
While it snowed heavy over night and was forecast to snow more throughout the day, I did not want to chance getting there and have the sun come out and have the same harsh light as before. Plus, the earlier I got there the fresher the snow would be with less chance of others messing it up.

So.......... at 0 dark thirty, I was loaded up and on the road. And as it turns out, it was a good thing I did.
I arrived just as it was getting light enough to shoot and the bridge looked perfect.
Grabbing my camera and leaving the tripod behind, I rushed out onto the bridge and shot a few quick shots. It was so pretty and the conditions were just amazing but I new it wouldn't last. Earlier, as I was driving out, I had passed some people walking towards the bridge and I wanted to make sure I got some shots before they got there. And, sure enough, just after I shot a few frames and was reaching in my bag to change lenses, two kids came running around the corner and proceeded to run across the bridge knocking off all the fresh snow, totally ruining the shot in a matter of seconds. BUT, by getting there early, and shooting quickly, I had got the shot that just moments later was ruined forever.

How to get there.....

Rhododendron is located near the base of Mt Hood, about an hour east of Portland OR.
The bridge is located on the SW side of HWY 26 just before you get to the Dairy Queen. There is a small gravel parking area just off the road and the bridge sits just a few yards back in the trees.

Pack light, but get a big production look!

A while back my friend Al wanted some portraits done, so he called me up saying he was looking for something a little different than the usual head shot.
After talking a bit and throwing around a few ideas, we decided to do some environmental portraits to showcase him out doing what he loves. 4 wheeling! Since his work requires him to wear a suit and tie, I suggested he bring that along as an alternative to the usual Carhart dirt cloths. I liked the idea of showing both sides of his life in one image.

Thinking about locations, I new I wanted an area that would offer lots of different set ups. Mud holes, forest trails and Mt viewpoints were all on my list, and there was one place that I new would work out great, Goat Mt! Located a little SW of Estacada OR, Goat Mt is little known, but offers a great variety of things to do. There are 4x4 trails, hiking trails, view points and a nice little lake at the base of the Mt. A perfect area for a fun off road shoot.

So a few weeks later we headed out in his old Jeep with a minimal amount of photo gear. I knew we would be getting dirty and muddy so I packed as light as possaible to keep the damage to my gear to a minimum. After stoping and shooting at a few different locations down low on the Mt, we decided to get out of the trees and head to the top to get some nice light.

Once to the top I found a nice open area and had him pull the Jeep into position first. I find it's always best to set the foreground subject up then work the rest of the shot after. Lighting was going to be an issue as I only brought one strobe, so it was time to brain storm a little and get creative. I could make the one light work, I just needed to shoot multiple exposures with the light positioned in different locations. Then later in post, I could put them all together and create the shot I envisioned, but did not bring the gear to create all at once.

First off, after the Jeep was in position, I moved Al into place and had the light set up. This first shot was to act as my base image that all the other exposures would be built around. A tripod here is a must! To shoot for a multilayered image, there must be no movement between frames. Otherwise the images wont line up correctly later in post.

Next came the light for the tire. Leaving the camera set, I had the light moved to a more incident angle. This way it offered much more shape and detail to the tread and gave the lighting a much better overall feel.

I also wanted to have a little more light in the front, but not so much that it drew to much attention. Just a little detail so that I could layer it into the final shot and give it some shape and deffinition. All the while making sure the original position of the camera stayed exactly the same.

 Once I felt I had all the lighting setups that I would need to create the final image, we packed up and headed home. I new that I would need a different sky, but no worries as I  had lots of sky shots to pick from back at the studio. So, once back, I searched some of my stock images and came up with a sky shot that I felt would work well, add some drama, yet still lend a natural feel to the over all shot.




Now for the tricky part. Once back at the studio and on the computer, I took my favorite peaces of each exposure and layered them together. By doing this I was able to create a much better shot than I would have been able to capture in one frame out in the field. With just a tripod, one light, some photoshop software and a little foresight, I was able come away with a shot that my friend was really happy with, and a nice addition to my portfolio.

How to get there.....

Goat Mt is located about an hour SW of Estacada OR off the Hillockburn RD.
There are many winding dirt roads in the area and its pretty easy to get lost. A good 4x4 or a dual sport motorcycle is the only way to get there.

Browns Camp Ride

So lets get this thing rolling!

Since a lot of my advertising photography work is for the motor sports industry,
we'll kick things off with a moto trip with some photo tips on shooting while out and about adventuring around on you bike.

Last Sunday my buddy Matt and I got a bit of a late start to the day, but we were both itching to ride. So since its the closest, we decided to hit the Browns Camp OHV area in the Tillamook State Forest. It's just one of the many OHV parks near the Portland area and has many great trails to choose from. Once we arrived at the staging area we quickly checked out the trail map and figured out a nice 40 mile loop that would cover some fun terrain but still get us back to the truck before dark.
Since this was a dirt only ride and would cover some tougher trails, I decided to leave my DSLR at home and just opted for my iphone to record images from the day. When used correctly and in the right locations, cell phone pics can turn out great, you just need to be picky about where and how you shoot.

About 20 miles into our wet and muddy, but really fun ride, we came up on this cool location.

Up until this point we had shot a few of the usual trail side pics, but I felt this was an extra cool spot and really wanted to capture a nice image to show off how unique it was. So we pulled off the trail and started walking around and looking at it from all angles. It was such a neat location, it looked cool from just about anywhere, but I kept going back to the big root system. I just loved how the roots looked so intricate, yet so old and moss covered. So, after playing around with a few ideas, I moved my bike onto the trail under the downed tree and composed a shot.

Next comes the tricky part, exposure! Its a dark grey day and i'm in a dense forest with no tripod. And I am using a cell phone. Aghh!!! Of course it would be nice to lean against something to help hold still, but the angle I wanted offered no such help. So, pulling a few tricks from my many years on location, I came up with 3 helpful ideas to make sure I got the shot. First, if you have a smart phone, use a timer. There are many apps out there that have a timer (I used Canopy for iphone for this) and they can really help out. By setting the timer to 5 seconds, I was able to settle down and hold still while the camera fired, thus eliminating the wiggle that always occurs when you hit the capture button.
Second, I picked a little darker exposure than the camera auto settings was giving me, thus getting a little faster shutter speed. I new as long as I could get it sharp, I could always make it a little brighter later. And third, I shot lots of pics. Ha, simple I know but effective. I figured I would have a better chance of 1 in 5 being sharp than 1 in 1. So I shot the same shot 5 times, hoping that one would come out good, and sure enough the 4th one was the winner.
After this shot, I played around with a few other angles but really liked this look for my favorite shot of the day. While it could have been just a quick snap shot, buy taking a few extra minutes to compose it, I was able to capture a really unique image that showcases why I love to ride and explore the back country.

Once back home I pulled the pic up on my computer and did a little post work to the shot. Cell phone's tend to wash out colors and seem to lack the punch of a DSLR. So I just went in and added a little saturation and contrast to liven it up a bit. This can be done many different ways and with many different software's, but I really like "onOne software" for enhancing these types of images. Within just a few minutes I was able to look through some of their presets in Perfect Effects, choose the ones I liked and apply them. Makes for a very quick and easy work flow.

After I was happy with the look of the shot, I went in and added a simple border (also from onOne)
to finnish it off.

Well, thats it for now. Hope some of these tips help you out in the future. And always remember, don't just take a picture, MAKE it. If its a nice shot, take the time to make it great.

If you would like to ride the Browns Camp area sometime, check out these links for directions and trail maps

http://www.oohva.org/

http://www.oregon.gov/ODF/tillamookstateforest/docs/TSFOHV09.pdf

If you want to check out the section of trail in the photo, it was shot on trail #13 named Ceder Tree.
If you go, have fun and ride safe!


Not sure whats up next? A climbing trip to smith rocks, a kayak trip down the Tualatin River or maybe a trip to the lava tube caves? Stay tuned because what ever it is, it should be fun!